A spring in my step – it’s Cocktail time!

Easter is almost upon us and the holiday break is much needed, I will be heading away for the weekend with the children, my best friend and her children so in the evenings while the children sleep we will be catching up, letting our hair down, chatting and of course having a drink or two.

With perfect timing I have teamed up with Aldi to recreate some of their Spring cocktails to share with you just in time for the holidays.

First up is a Raspberry Smash:

Originally this was a Blueberry Smash however they aren’t available in my supermarket yet and it’s too early to pick any so I improvised. This is a refreshing drink which is very easy to make – the longest part is making up the syrup and allowing to cool long enough – you could actually make this the night before, or during in the morning ready for a cheeky afternoon tipple, containing my spirit of choice Gin it was a winner before I’d even started!

Ingredients:

50 ml Oliver Cromwell London Dry Gin

½ a cup of white sugar

½ a cup hot water

10-12 Raspberries

25ml fresh lemon juice

6 mint leaves

Sparkling water to top

To Make:

Fill a tall glass and a cocktail shaker with cubed ice

To make a blackberry syrup dissolve the white sugar in the hot water. Once dissolved add in 10/12 Raspberries, smash down with a fork or press and then allow to cool down to room temperature before straining through a fine tea strainer and chilling in the fridge

Add 25ml of Raspberry syrup and all ingredients (except the sparkling water) to the cocktail shaker

Shake hard for ten seconds and then strain through a tea strainer into the ice-filled tall glass

Slowly top with sparkling water

Next up I tried a Prosecco Thyme – Prosecco is the drink my bestie and I reach for when we get together so it was only fair I tried it before we went away – I actually think I need to re-try this one as my plums (ah la la) weren’t as ripe as I would have liked so the flavour didn’t release very much.

Prosecco Thyme

1 bottle Valdobbiadene Prosecco Spumante DOCG

2 large ripe plums

½ cup of white sugar

½ cup hot water

4 springs of fresh thyme

25ml fresh lemon juice

To Make

Cut the plums into quarters and discard the stones

Muddle the plums in a cocktail shaker

To make thyme syrup add dissolve the white sugar in the hot water. Once dissolved add the thyme sprigs. Allow the mix to cool, and then strain before storing in the fridge until needed

Add 25ml of thyme syrup and ice to the cocktail shaker

Add the remaining lemon juice and shake hard

Strain into a rocks glass filled with cubed ice and top with Prosecco

Decoration / to serve

Cut a fresh plum into wedges and place this into the glass. Strip a few leaves of fresh thyme and scatter over the drink.

This was certainly a lovely way to get into the holiday spirit – Thank you Aldi for supplying the recipes and the alcohol.

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About Us

Hi, I'm Clare (Emmy's Mummy). I live in Essex with my husband Paul, Daughter Emmy (born February 2010) and Son Harry (born October 2012), our dog Barney.
I'm a 30-something WAHM and former Nanny, sharing life's adventures and misadventures
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